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Next stop was New Norcia via Northam, Toodyay (pronounced Toojay) and Bindoon. New Norcia is described as a little bit of old Spain in the middle of the Australian bush. In 1847 a Benedictine Monk from Spain named Rosendo Salvado, who had come to Australia to be a missionary, was asked by the Bishop of Perth to start a Mission to support the Indigenous community of this area about 150km north east of Perth. As you do, Rosendo and his assistant put together what supplies they could and set off on foot through virgin bushland. Their supplies ran out and they decided to befriend the “locals” and stay. The rest is history. Over the next 50 years Rosendo and his band of “merry men” built, mainly with their own hands, a town which provided religion, education and accommodation for the local community. They were entirely self sufficient. The work has been carried on by other Benedictine Monks and today comprises a Monastery, Abbey Church, Flour Mill, Bakery, Guest House, Hotel, 4 Education Facilities (2 were built first for the Indigenous children and then 2 as boarding schools for European children), Convent building and a Roadhouse together with farming and grazing of
cattle, sheep and other animals and harvesting of crops and vegetables on 5,500 acres of land with everything, that is everything, owned by the monks. Today there are 10 Benedictine Monks in residence and we were fortunate to join them in afternoon prayer. A modern Visitors Centre has been built together with a museum and guided walking tours are carried out daily. You have to be employed by the Monks to live in the town. What they have achieved over the years is nothing short of amazing and I imagine the income from visitors won’t even touch the sides of the ongoing upkeep of these fabulous old buildings. If you are ever in the area this place is a must see.
Next stop was the Turquoise Coast and we decided to stay in Cervantes as it was the most convenient location for “The Pinnacles”, the big attraction of the Nambung National Park. The Pinnacles Desert is one of those natural wonders that you have to see to get the experience. Thousands of limestone pillars rise out of the sand, some to a height of 5 metres. They were formed
thousands of years ago and have been exposed by wind, rain and shifting sand. Today you can wander on foot and/or drive on designated tracks through all this area. There are signs requesting you not to touch the pillars but, unfortunately, there are always those who have to “be the idiot”!!!. We got the feeling that we were very fortunate to have a close up look at this amazing place and felt that, in time, restrictions would be applied to combat the idiots. If this was in America or Europe there would be a million visitors a year. As you’ll see, the Japanese tourism trade is up and running again with one bride and groom having their wedding photos taken at this astounding place.
We decided to have some “down time” around here and after a “free camp” at Cliff Head North (where we camped literally about 5 metres from the water and looked out at an oil rig about 20km offshore that had clearly visible flames and various levels) we are in Dongara/ Port Denison. Lovely Big 4 van park on the water. John wanted to watch the Mayweather boxing match but unfortunately noone here was willing to
pay the money (we were told $1600 per outlet) to show it so he had to keep in touch via the web. We spent 2 days here having a bit of down time, washing and so on. Lovely walks, did a 7 km river walk which was just beautiful. Dongara is similar to a lot of places we have seen here in WA where there are new estates with some lovely homes built but majority of blocks awaiting the next big boom I’d say.
Left Dongara on Tues 5th May and headed north via Greenough, a historic little town that has been lovingly restored and has some of the biggest Alpacas we’ve ever seen running around as if they own the place. Quick visit here as we wanted to get into Geraldton to see the display of the Batavia at the Museum. We spent quite a bit of time here in 2006 but missed this display which is fascinating. The story of the ”Batavia” (a Dutch ship which sank in the 1600‘s) is well worth a session on Google. Left Geraldton and headed out to Coronation Beach, another recommendation from the Square Dancers and they were right,
it is stunning. Paid $6 pp for the night - (“freecamping”) and were informed by people who were wearing their head nets that the flies had been terrible. Luckily we arrived late in the day and we weren’t worried by them too much. Snagged just about the last spot and enjoyed a walk along the most beautiful white sandy beach. A timber staircase leads up to a lookout overlooking the beach and the sensational sunset. Coronation Beach is obviously a favourite weekend spot for people from Geraldton so is very popular - hopefully the flies are just a seasonal thing???? apparently they are caused by the recent cyclone but no one can explain why.
From here we are heading to Carnarvon via another overnight freecamp at Hamelin Pool. Once again, a lovely seaside spot on the eastern shore of Shark Bay with enough flies to feed a family - some people were staying a few days - why? Fisherfolk are notoriously strange people is all I can say.
We weren’t overly impressed with Carnarvon in 2006 and it is still pretty much the same. They have a mile long jetty that is interesting and
it’s main claim to fame is the plantations that produce 70% of Perth’s winter vegies. It’s on the Gascoyne river which is mainly subterranean although this time there was water above the surface as a result of the recent cyclones. Our timing was out again as the season hasn’t started yet so no markets and only a few fresh veg to be had at the roadside stalls. Stayed at the Wintersun Caravan park as we did in ’06 and found it greatly improved. It’s so nice you could spend a few days just relaxing around the pool - if it was a bit warmer. They have their own bowling green and old (like us) people come up from Perth for anything up to 3-4 months through the winter to get away from cold old Perth and indulge in their love of the game. We caught up with the rest of our team there and prepared for the next few nights of free camping.
Left Carnarvon on Thurs 7th May for the short drive to Quobba Station via the Blowholes. Funny story here - there was an old bloke driving out of the Blowholes camp area as we
Cliff Head North
This is what I saw when I woke in the middle of the night. drove in for a look see. He excitedly told us that there were plenty of sites available assuming we wanted to stay. One look was enough, it was pretty barren, windy as all getout which kept the flies under control, absolutely no facilities so we hottailed it outta there asap. The look on this chap’s face as we drove straight out was priceless. We then stopped to look at the Blowholes and this old fella caught up with us obviously still wondering why we hadn’t anchored down. He told us he normally stays for 3 months at a time but the Govt over here has decided to limit stays at a lot of these places to one month, much to his disgust. He was surprised that we didn’t want to stay for a few weeks but we reassured him that Quobba was our next destination so he was happy with that. He also filled us in on the dangers of rock fishing here - rogue waves have done in a few fisherfolk in the past - it’s so isolated that there’s no way you’d get a helicopter to pick you out of the drink if you were stupid enough to
Cliff Head North
View from our bed as we woke in the morning. fish from the rocks there. As we headed back to the cars I stopped to say hullo to this chap’s wife saying “It might be a while till you get him back, he’s found someone to talk too!” She replied, “I don’t give a damn, I’m enjoying the peace and quiet!”
From there on to Quobba.
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Jack o'Connor
non-member comment
Fascinating Travelogue
Dear John and Joe, What a truly amazing trip you are having. It has been so uplifting; (especially on cold, wet, Mondays, at our beautiful downtown Arncliffe office!!) to read about and see great photos of the most interesting and fascinating places around this incredible country. Joe, you have a great talent for travel writing, and dare I say it, may even convert some of our more "urban" friends to the delights and freedom of the great open road/track!! We look forward to reading more about this wonderful odyssey. Happy and safe travels. Looking forward to catching up in August. Jack and Mairead.